MBTI Type: ENTP

Brandon has taken his former professor’s ideas about superior beings, moral ambiguities, and social laws as being simply “constructs” to contain human behavior and decided to use them as an experiment, to prove his own intellectual superiority through planning “the perfect murder.” He quite happily engages the guests in intellectual discourse on this topic, as well as wants to discuss the murder in-depth after it happens, in order to make it seem more real to him. Brandon considers himself unpredictable and impulsive, yet carried it off “just as we planned it.” He is far more careless and arrogant than Philip, and less inclined to fret over the petty details of their murder – changing up his plans at the last minute, wanting to host the dinner party on the trunk that contains David’s body as a morbid theatrical touch, tying the rope they used to strangle him with on a stack of books, and otherwise easily adapting as conversational shifts happen. Brandon assumes he can talk his way out of everything, and for the most part, succeeds in being flippant about his behaviors. He has a decidedly amoral approach to the world, which includes prizing the intellect above men such as David who “just take up space.” He remarks on how usually fine young men die on battlefields, inferring that David was somehow inferior for having achieved nothing monumental or sacrificial in his life. He is callous, detached, and admits he felt “nothing” when urging Philip to commit the crime, until the body “went slack,” and then he became “excited.” He, typically for unhealthy ETPs, has very low emotional awareness and tolerance for others’ feelings, dismissing Philip’s remorse and insisting he stop being so emotional, lest he give the game away. Brandon tries to conceal his desperation, but it’s evident that he desperately wants Rupert’s approval, and has staged this murder and subsequent dinner as bait, to entice Rupert into possibly solving it and eliciting his admiration.

Enneagram: 3w4 so/sx

Unlike the more nervous, fearful Philip, Brandon maintains a cool, collected, and always in control persona throughout the dinner party and later interrogation by his former professor. He is all about appearances, impressing people, and committing the “perfect” crime. He’s intolerant of anything less than exemplary, and has the arrogance, condescension, and emotional issues of a 3 gone bad – all about presentation, accomplishment, and showing off his intelligence, rather than empathy or remorse. His 4 wing is elitist, and feels “different” from other “lesser” people.